Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Man, when it rains, it pours, right? RIGHT? First, Summer's laptop pooped out a few weeks ago, and now she's got some kind of crazy virus on her desktop computer and she can't get online. Regular posting will resume... as soon as we can get it going, haha. Stuff happens, dudes.

Anyway!

The other day, I dropped in on some friends (actually, their 7 year old spied me walking down the street past their house and they waved me down and invited me in.) around lunch time and they made these simple little snacks. It was one of those DUH moments- something I'm sure everyone has experienced, right down to the first time someone dipped a french fry in ketchup. DUH! I watched them spend all of 3 minutes in the kitchen preparing "pizza" and when it came out, there it was- DUH DUH DUH!

I am sort of starting to think I should maybe get Trader Joe's to sponsor us (yeah, right) since I'm always namedropping, but what can I say? They're in my neighborhood, they're cheap, and they have all kinds of awesome crap. So anyway, I pointed at the pizzas and said, "Wait, are those-" Yes, just prepackaged flatbreads, a dollop of sauce, some cheese, ta-da. Pizza.

I always think of food like this as mom food, or bachelor food- just any kind of food that requires almost no effort whatsoever. Boiled hot dogs? Delicious! Mac & Cheese from a box? Okay! When I got pregnant, of course I was convinced that I'd never feed my kid gross kid food (he's going to have a REFINED palate! HA. HA. HA.) but then I find myself asking him if he wants a cheese burrito with ketchup. (He doesn't like quesadillas. Just cheese burritos. Okayyy.) So, anything that gets us out of our regular lunch rut, AND is super easy and tasty- totally fine with me.

So, in case you're way out of the loop like me, here's a heads up. Flatbreads. Sauce. Cheese. Today I layered thinly sliced zucchini on mine because I love zucchini and pasta sauce- for my son's pizza I did finely chopped zucchini so he wouldn't have to bite through the slices. Put them in your oven for a few minutes and then gobble them down. The easiest snack ever.

Okay guys, this new year is already a little hectic but we do have plans for some fun stuff in the future. Look for more healthy fare (Summer's hopping on my hippie bandwagon, it seems). I'm headed to San Francisco tomorrow morning for a few days to celebrate my best friend for many years getting married, and I'll be back in business by Monday at the very latest.

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comments:

I was just at TJ's this past weekend, and one of the cashiers pointed at my garlic naan and said that people are using those as pizza crusts as well. Who doesn't love more garlic? Just thought I'd share that :-)

I like making pizza on loaves of Italian or French bread (but mostly Italian, because I don't like breaking my teeth on crust). Don't get me wrong, homemade crust is the bomb diggity. However, when I want easy, this is what I do.

you have totally found the trick to superfast pizza! I do this ALL the time. It works with pita too, especially if you like thin crust and separate the two halves of the pita for two pizzas of ultimate criposity. YES.

Here's an additional idea my family loves: Pita or tortilla, spread ranch dressing over surface, sprinkle minced onion about a tsp, cut up broccoli into small pieces and sprinkle over, cover with mozzarella cheese or a mix of mozzarella and cheddar. Bake till cheese bubbles and begins to brown.

Pizzas are an all-time favorite at our house, too. I like to make my own dough but I also use tortillas, French bread loaves, and bagels regularly. My kids could exist solely on pizza and bean & cheese burritos!

I'm so happy to have found your blog (I had googled "pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes," which I made for my daughter's 2nd birthday and they were delicious!). I love your attitude and photos and I look forward to future posts!

I don't really need another blog to distract me but I fear you have and I will be blaming you both tomorrow when I am doing some work avoiding searching in your archives. Great blog - with recipes want to make, great writing, stunning pictures.Pizza looks great and I have high standards living a hop skip and jump from 2 of the best pizzerie in Rome.

Who *doesn't* absolutely love Trader Joe's? You should ask about the sponsorship. There's not a TJ in the town I'm living in now and it's a sad sad world when I go grocery shopping. I miss the $1.50 salsa that's absolutely amazing.